Featured

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a 2.6 percent month-over-month rise in existing-home sales last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million. May sales were revised slightly upward to a rate of 4.91 million. June sales were at their highest pace since October 2013, though they remain 2.3 percent down from the 5.16 million pace set a year ago.

It's been four years since the Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law, and the Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee marked the occasion with a new report highlighting its flaws, including its failures to end "too big to fail." "In no way, shape or form does the Dodd-Frank Act end 'too big to fail,'" said Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), chairman of the committee. "Instead, Dodd-Frank actually enshrines 'too big to fail' into law."

The housing market overall really is recovering, despite a lackluster so far this year. It's just going to take a lot longer in several markets, according to Zillow. According to the second-quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Report, home values in half of the nation's 100 largest metro areas will not return to their pre-recession peak levels for at least three years. In a few markets, full recovery will take more than a decade.

As the shape of the mortgage industry shifts with a rising number of non-bank entities now selling loans directly to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the supervisor for the GSEs' regulator continues to express concerns about potential risks in these transactions.

While the time it took to close a loan in June increased just slightly from the previous month, the closing rate reached a record high of 61 percent, according to Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report. Among loans originated 90 days before the report, 60.7 percent closed in June, the report states. This is up from 57.8 percent in May. "Clearly, lenders are working harder than ever to convert and close loans," said Jonathan Corr, president and COO of Ellie Mae.

According to a joint report from HUD and the Census Bureau, groundbreaking on new homes was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 893,000, a drop of 9.3 percent below May's revised annual rate of 985,000. Declines came on both sides of the market: Single-family starts came to a rate of 575,000, down 9.0 percent, according to the report, while multifamily starts fell 9.9 percent to a 318,000 rate.

Bank of Americaposted second-quarter net income of $2.3 billion on revenue of $22.0 billion. A year ago, the megabank reported bringing $4.0 billion. The bulk of the year-over-year drop in profits stemmed from a $4.0 billion litigation expense, "substantially all" of which was related to legacy mortgage-related matters, the bank said.

The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Housing Market Index (HMI) registered a score of 53 in the group's July survey, increasing four points from June. "This is the first time that builder confidence has been above 50 since January and an important sign that it is strengthening as pent-up demand brings more buyers into the marketplace," said NAHB Chair Kevin Kelly.

Over the 12-month period ending in June 2015, nearly 20 percent of the more than 340 markets covered in Veros Real Estate Solutions' quarterly VeroFORECAST are expected to experience a decline in home prices, the company said Tuesday. While that leaves 80 percent of the country on an upward growth path, "all but the most upbeat markets are slowing in their value improvements," Veros said in its third-quarter update.

Second-quarter profits at JPMorgan Chase dipped nearly 8 percent year-over-year as the bank continued to work with a diminished mortgage market. JPMorgan's latest earnings report, released Tuesday, shows the megabank earned $6.0 billion in profits over the latest three months, putting its performance somewhere between the $5.3 billion reported in the first quarter and $6.5 billion a year ago.